Lake deputies searching for a suspect in an attempted murder shot an killed an armed man overnight -- but not the man they were looking for.
According to the Lake County Sheriff's Office, the Leesburg Police department requested assistance early this morning in tracking down a suspect in an attempted murder. The suspect and another man allegedly severely beat a man, possibly with a cinder block.
A deputy spotted the suspect riding a motorcycle but he was able to elude capture, the Sheriff's Office said. Deputies later found the bike parked at an apartment complex, and knocked on the door of the nearest apartment at about 1:30 a.m.
Deputies, however, did not announce who they were, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. John Herrell, because they thought it would be more "tactically advantageous." Herrell said it is not standard procedure for deputies to announce their presence, but the officers were in uniform.
The resident answered armed with a gun, which he pointed at deputies. One of the deputies fatally shot the man, identified as Andrew Lee Scott, 26.
Herrell said the decision whether or not to announce law-enforcement presence is up to the deputy on the scene.
Drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in Scott's apartment, and he has a record of drug arrests, the Sheriff's Office said, but he was not the suspect they were looking for in the attempted murder.
That suspect, 31-year-old Jonathan Brown, was found in a nearby building and arrested, according to the Sheriff's Office. He is being held without bail.
Another man wanted in the same case, 25-year-old Anthony Michael Rodriguez, was arrested in a traffic stop and faces a charge of felony battery. He's held on $2,000 bail, the Sheriff's Office said.
Herrell did not provide additional details -- such as whether the area outside the apartment was lighted at the time of the shooting or whether deputies had their weapons drawn when they knocked -- because the incident is under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as is standard with deputy-involved shootings.
